Car shutting down - PULL OVER SAFELY on the freeway 3 days after delivery

[AlanSubie4Life]

Glad you were able to get off the tracks safely. Let us know what Tesla finds.

I don’t understand though: if you were going over the tracks at 15mph, why you would end up still stopping on tracks...was there more than one set of tracks? If there were just one set I would expect the car to coast/clear the tracks if it started at 15mph...unless it jammed on the brakes automatically or motors seized.

I wonder if something about the jarring of the tracks triggered a fault?

 

[sduck]

Darren34, when and where did this happen? Which service center did it go to? What you're describing sounds like a seized up motor, but if that was the case you wouldn't be able to push it at all, 3 people or more. But those prior warnings may have been more of a dire warning than you thought - probably should have got that checked out immediately.

 

[darren34]

Thanks for the replies, my memory is not perfect on my exact position when things started to fail but it was sometime after I turned. I had to cross two lanes turning left onto another road that then had the single set of tracks. If you look at my crude sketch below I think it happened shortly before the tracks and coasting didn't go far as there is a little hump and the motors were engaged. The tracks are not all that jarring it's just that bit of a hump you don't want to fly over. And in hindsight getting that error checked may have been advisable though I had planned to have it checked when I needed a tire rotation. I've been told the issue is a wiring harness or some such thing but what really concerns me still is that both motors just went out and that it would not go into neutral. I don't think it would have ended well if I was on the freeway or in the mountains on a curve. The car is at the Fresno, CA service center.

 

[mongo]

Thanks for the replies, my memory is not perfect on my exact position when things started to fail but it was sometime after I turned. I had to cross a lane of traffic turning left onto another road that then had the single set of tracks. If you look at my crude sketch below I think it happened shortly before the tracks and coasting didn't go far as there is a little hump and the motors were engaged. The tracks are not all that jarring it's just that bit of a hump you don't want to fly over. And in hindsight getting that error checked may have been advisable though I had planned to have it checked when I needed a tire rotation. I've been told the issue is a wiring harness or some such thing but what really concerns me still is that both motors just went out and that it would not go into neutral. I don't think it would have ended well if I was on the freeway or in the mountains on a curve.View attachment 448075

There is no 'neutral'. If the car is in D or R, the motors are powered and apply torque based on the accelerator position. If the motors lose communication, then the display may not show N, but the motors are still effectively in N.
When pushing the car, you will always be fighting the gearing of the motor (13:1 or so).

 

[Petrocelli]

You agreed to arbitration. Unless you opted out.

And if you read the clause carefully, Elon Musk is the arbitrator.

 

[darren34]

I have an idea what you're trying to say since there is no transmission but on the gear shifter it has R N D and in the manual it says this:

Neutral
Push the lever up or down to the first position
and hold it there for more than 1 second to
shift into Neutral. Neutral allows Model 3 to
roll freely when you are not pressing the brake
pedal.

It would not switch out of park into neutral. Nor would it go into drive or reverse. I may or may not have put it in park myself to try and get it going again but at some point I did exit the vehicle which would put it in park regardless. If it would have gone into neutral it would have been able to roll freely and I would have rolled easily off the tracks.

 

[darren34]

And if you read the clause carefully, Elon Musk is the arbitrator.

As long as they take the car back I don't care. I'm not looking for anything else, just don't feel safe in a car that stops randomly.

 

[mongo]

I have an idea what you're trying to say since there is no transmission but on the gear shifter it has R N D and in the manual it says this:

Neutral
Push the lever up or down to the first position
and hold it there for more than 1 second to
shift into Neutral. Neutral allows Model 3 to
roll freely when you are not pressing the brake
pedal.

It would not switch out of park into neutral. Nor would it go into drive or reverse. I may or may not have put it in park myself to try and get it going again but at some point I did exit the vehicle which would put it in park regardless. If it would have gone into neutral it would have been able to roll freely and I would have rolled easily off the tracks.

Ah, so the issue was that parking brake was engaged, not the motors?

I'd also like to note I could not push the car by myself and it took a minimum of three people since the motors were engaged.

I'd be impressed that even 3 people could move a car with the parking brake engaged.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

If it would have gone into neutral it would have been able to roll freely and I would have rolled easily off the tracks.

I assume in the end you had to engage Transport Mode to get it off the tracks? I could see tracks and any elevation changes would make it difficult to push the vehicle regardless of the mode.

Yeah, even if you had been able to select neutral, as you as you exit the car, it will go to park. Transport Mode bypasses this mode (for 30 feet at a time anyway)

However, I would think that with a person in the driver seat, in neutral (or with the motors de-energized), with the parking brake off, the effort to push the car would be no different than Transport Mode (other than the additional weight of the person). But maybe not? It might not like to roll without power if it thinks it is in Drive, and there is a fault detected, and maybe would automatically engage the parking brake? But you'd hear that parking brake engage. Definitely not going anywhere with that on.

 

[Petrocelli]

As long as they take the car back I don't care. I'm not looking for anything else, just don't feel safe in a car that stops randomly.

I was joking around. Hopefully, Tesla will take the car back.

 

[darren34]

Ah, so the issue was that parking brake was engaged, not the motors?

I'd be impressed that even 3 people could move a car with the parking brake engaged.

It would not budge with the parking brake engaged. Once it was in tow mode then it rolled but I could not do it by myself as stated previously.

 

[darren34]

I was joking around. Hopefully, Tesla will take the car back.

It's all good, you did inspire me to go read the arbitration clause.

 

[mongo]

It would not budge with the parking brake engaged. Once it was in tow mode then it rolled but I could not do it by myself as stated previously.

If it was in tow mode then the motors were not engaged. Tow puts it in neutral, baring internal faults.
When you say it took three people, is that someone in the driver's seat and two pushing?

 

[darren34]

If it was in tow mode then the motors were not engaged. Tow puts it in neutral, baring internal faults.
When you say it took three people, is that someone in the driver's seat and two pushing?

Three with nobody inside and slightly downhill. Obviously there were some serious faults.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Three with nobody inside and slightly downhill. Obviously there were some serious faults.

Sounds like you had practiced Transport Mode prior to the incident based on your original post? That is very thorough. I guess I should do that!

Anyway, sounds like Transport Mode did not behave the same way as it did in your practice scenario, with this fault condition. Maybe it was stuck in a mode that did regen braking - though that does nothing below 5mph, so that doesn't make any sense, either.

Can't imagine why it would be so difficult compared to the practice case, though. Couldn't be the parking brake unless it was partially engaged somehow.

 

[mongo]

Sounds like you had practiced Transport Mode prior to the incident based on your original post? That is very thorough. I guess I should do that!

Anyway, sounds like Transport Mode did not behave the same way as it did in your practice scenario, with this fault condition. Maybe it was stuck in a mode that did regen braking - though that does nothing below 5mph, so that doesn't make any sense, either.

Can't imagine why it would be so difficult compared to the practice case, though. Couldn't be the parking brake unless it was partially engaged somehow.

Or a motor ate a winding or a bearing went bad or something mechanical and frictiony like that.

 

[darren34]

Sounds like you had practiced Transport Mode prior to the incident based on your original post? That is very thorough. I guess I should do that!

Anyway, sounds like Transport Mode did not behave the same way as it did in your practice scenario, with this fault condition. Maybe it was stuck in a mode that did regen braking - though that does nothing below 5mph, so that doesn't make any sense, either.

Can't imagine why it would be so difficult compared to the practice case, though. Couldn't be the parking brake unless it was partially engaged somehow.

Getting stuck on the tracks definitely made me think I should know more about how the car behaves. I had practiced putting it in neutral with the shifter stalk. I hadn't tried transport mode but had seen it there. If someone has tried transport mode does it roll completely free like it is in neutral?

 

[BobAbooey]

Under the law of most states, for a vehicle to be considered a lemon, the car must 1) have a "substantial defect," covered by warranty, that occurs within a certain time after purchase, and 2) continue to have the defect after a "reasonable number" of repair attempts.

How the New Car Lemon Law Can Help You - FindLaw

 

[darren34]

Or a motor ate a winding or a bearing went bad or something mechanical and frictiony like that.

But if say the rear motor went out why couldn't I drive with the front motor?

 

[mongo]

Getting stuck on the tracks definitely made me think I should know more about how the car behaves. I had practiced putting it in neutral with the shifter stalk. I hadn't tried transport mode but had seen it there. If someone has tried transport mode does it roll completely free like it is in neutral?

It should roll as free as it can. Transport mode allows the car to stay neutral with needing a person in the seat. It deactivates if the 12V battery is low or the car goes over 5MPH.

But if say the rear motor went out why couldn't I drive with the front motor?

If it was a winding or other electrical fault, the system would disengage HV for safety.